


Six Months Is a Long Time

by 26stars



Series: Between the Lines [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Does anyone actually know how to tag stories?, F/F, Female Friendship, Mother-Daughter Relationship, This is possibly the fluffiest thing I've ever written and it's still mostly sad., You guys know I flip flop with these two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-08
Updated: 2015-10-08
Packaged: 2018-04-25 10:50:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4957468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/26stars/pseuds/26stars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After s03e02, May gets another unexpected phone call.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Six Months Is a Long Time

**Author's Note:**

> I really thought I'd be able to hold back from getting into season 3-compliant fic for longer than 2 weeks, but here we are. It's so nice to see May on screen again, and I'm dying for the reunions that are surely still far off. I figure this wouldn't be too OOC for either of these two, but if it matters, I imagined it happening with the background of my Hearing What She Doesn't Say scenes, so I added it to the series. It's a one-shot for now...but, we'll see...

She is sitting in the driver’s seat of the vehicle, eyes constantly shifting, scanning the area around it, when her temporary phone vibrates in the cupholder at her elbow.

She picks it up, is unsurprised by the number, and flips it open.

“Two phone calls in 24 hours?” she says as she raises the phone to her ear.

There is a breath of silence, and then a soft voice says, “Hey, May.”

_Skye._

_With Andrew’s phone._

Two possibilities race through her mind, and she zeroes in on the worst case first.

“Did something happen to Andrew?” She lets her voice sound tight.

_Say no. Say no. Say no._

“What? No—Jesus, May, I just lifted his phone when he wasn’t paying attention. I figured he would have called you about Simmons, so…”

May lets out a slow breath into the phone and forces her heart rate down. “Yeah, he did. It’s great news. Is he back to evaluate her now?”

“Yeah.”

“How is she?”

She hears Skye lick her lips.The space before her answer stretches a little longer.

“I don’t know." It's barely a whisper.

_She’s definitely not the same._

“How are you?”

“I…I’m okay.”

_I don’t know._

_Definitely not the same._

May closes her eyes and tries to picture the girl, slouched in her bunk or in the backseat of one of the SUVs, phone pressed to her ear, gaze unfocused on the area around her knees. She wonders if she’s gotten taller. If she still dresses the same. If she’s cut her hair.

_Six months is a long time._

“I saw the news—an Inhuman? And the hospital?”

“This line isn’t secure,” Skye reminds her quietly. “But we have a guest for the time being. And our other doctor friend isn’t showing his face.”

“Understandable.”

“Says you.”

There’s a tiny bite in those words, and May feels herself prickle.

“I’m not hiding, Skye,” she says, letting her voice condense a little.

“It’s Daisy now,” Skye responds shortly, her volume marginally louder too.

_Six months is a long time._

May sighs into the phone, “Look, I don’t know what you’ve heard—“

“Andrew hasn’t said anything, if that’s what you’re worried about, May,” Skye cuts her off. “Everyone has their own ideas, though.”

_So I’ve heard._

“And what are yours?”

_Do you assume the worst in me?_

Skye is quiet for a moment, and May pictures her closing her eyes, as though steeling herself to say it. “You thought you knew what you wanted and where to go to find it. Did you?”

_Was it worth it?_

May sighs. She can tell her the truth.

“Turns out, it wasn’t what I wanted.”

_But I am not yet sure what that is._

She can hear a click as Skye— _Daisy_ —swallows. For a little while longer, they just sit in silence, and May thinks of how different their silences used to be.

She knows what the girl wants to ask.

She knows she won't.

“I didn’t leave because of you, Sk—Daisy, or because of everything that happened.”

_Not because of your parents._

_Not because of the other SHIELD._

_Not because of Ward and Kara._

_Not because of Coulson._

“Didn’t you though?” The girl's voice is tentative and small, like she’s suddenly de-aged on the other side of the phone.

Something in May’s heart twists.

“I didn’t leave because of anyone else," she tries to say reassuringly. "I left because of me.”

“You sure? Because this sounds very reminiscent of a ‘Your dad and I love you very much, we just can’t be married any more and it’s not your fault’ speech.”

May actually rolls her eyes. “I know. I’ve received that speech.”

She pictures Skye cringing on the other side of the phone.

“Then tell me the truth.”

_Are you ever coming back?_

And May is glad she actually has an answer now.

“If you had asked me a couple of days ago, I would have said, ‘I don’t know.’ But now I am almost certain the answer is ‘yes’.”

She hears a shuffle on the other side of the phone, as though Skye is sitting up straighter.

“Really?” In as single instant, her voice has returned to sounding to the way it used to. May almost smiles.

“I _hope_ so,” she says.

“You’re doing something stupid out there, aren’t you?”

May shrugs, even through Skye can’t see her. “Some would probably say so. I doubt you would, though.”

“Wait a minute, May, are you—“

But May doesn’t need to answer, because at that moment, the passenger-side door opens and Hunter is climbing back up into the cab of their stolen semi.

“Arizona tea and protein bar, as requested,” he says cheerfully, tossing the packaged bar on her lap and dropping the can into the cupholder beside her. He heaves the door shut while May turns her head so he can see the phone against her opposite ear. “Oh, sorry,” he says quickly, falling silent as he opens his own sack of snacks on his lap.

On the other side of the line, Skye lets out a disbelieving laugh. “Seriously? You guys are really working together?”

“As long as he behaves himself. Neither of us have shot each other yet, so that’s already an improvement.”

“Well, see if I sleep with both eyes shut tonight,” Hunter mutters around a mouthful of energy bar. “You talking to Daisy?”

May ignores him, focusing on the sound of Skye’s laughter in her ear.

“You had better come back with some awesome stories,” she says, and May can hear the lingering smile wrapping around the sadness.

_You had better come back._

May lets herself think back over all the different ways they're left each other this year. On planes with kidnappers, with teleporters and madmen, for each other and for themselves.

Always leaving. Always left.

_Oh, Skye._

“I plan to,” May says quietly, offering the only promise she feels comfortable making.

And she can tell it’s enough.

“May…” Skye says quietly, and it sounds like a hand extended in cautious apology.

_I’m sorry things didn’t work out._

_I’m sorry you aren’t happy._

_I’m sorry that I selfishly just want you back here._

May takes it.

“I miss you, too,” she whispers to the girl, not caring that Hunter will probably make a comment about this later.

_It’s okay._

_I understand._

_I’m sorry I hurt you too._

She stays on the line for a few more breaths, and this silence does feel different. Better.

“Come back safe,” Skye finally says in her ear, and May remembers the last time they exchanged these words. Before earthquakes and Inhumans, before the ‘real SHIELD’ and revenge missions—the last time May left her team to chase after Ward. She thinks of the faces still there in that base, still fighting the good fight, with each other and for each other.

“You keep them safe,” May commissions her.

_Do your best._

“I will,” Skye says quietly. “Call when you can?”

_I love you._

“No promises.”

_I love you, too._

“Okay.”

“Til next time?”

“Next time.”

It feels right to hang up then, without a goodbye, and May lets the phone snap shut and drops it on the seat between her thighs, reaching immediately for the keys and firing up the engine. She expects an immediate comment from the Brit at her shoulder, but he actually waits until they’re back on the highway before he opens his mouth.

“She cut her hair, you know,” he says, sipping his dollar coffee as he props his feet up on the dashboard.

 _Called it._ May almost smiles.

“Can’t wait to see it,” she says, reaching over and cracking open her can with one hand.

“She can’t wait to see you,” he returns, surprisingly gentle.

“I know.”

_Six months is a long time._


End file.
